“Can You be Perfect”
Winchell drops back to throw the game winning touchdown, but in a show of symbolism and what he has done all season, he decides to run with the ball and put the team on his back, breaking tackles left and right, pushing through the players getting closer and closer to the goal line and the state title. Every time I watch this movie I still get out of my seat. He gets so close and falls a yard short. The refs leave the stadium quickly and that’s it. Winchell sits there in defeat, on his knees crying as Dallas Carter celebrates. It’s a classic scene, and the climax to this film.
“Can you be Perfect”. This is what Billy Bob Thorton asks of his players in “Friday Night Lights.” I have seen this movie probably 5 times and know it very well. I can also relate to this movie because I practically lived the plot of this movie. I played High school football for all 4 years and in my final year we made it to the State playoffs and lost, just like the team in this movie.
The movie takes place in Odesa, Texas in 1988. A football rich town with a tradition of winning. The town is ideal for the movie, all open land except for oil drills and telephone wires. Its one of those town were everybody knows everybody. The main monument in the town is the football stadium. This shows that football is like a religion to them, and down south, football actually is. The film does a good job of showing how important this football team is to the players, the families, and the town.
The movie stars Billy Bob Thorton, who plays Gary Gaines, a hard ass head coach who expects perfection from his players. He’s like a second father to the players and they look up to him as one. Lucas Black (Fast and the Furious 2) plays Mike Winchell, the senior quarterback who takes care of his mom when not at school or at practice. He gets the most pressure on him for this team to succeed and, at a few different points during the movie, breaks down and sometimes can’t handle the pressure. Derek Luke (Glory Road) plays the role of star running back Booby Miles, the all state running who thinks he is actually god in cleats. The role is played very well by Luke as he shows you his arrogant side when he is being interviewed by television news stations, and his soft side when he is injured in one of the early games of the season and cannot play the rest of his senior year. The rest of the cast are a bunch of no name actors, but play there roles well, not jumping out of your seat amazing, but well. Mentioning this I must talk about Tim McGraw, who plays the Dad of the starting fullback. He’s a legend at Permain and wants his son to walk in his shoes and win a state championship just like he did, and if he doesn’t, he’s a failure in his eyes. The father son relationship between these two is greatly shown, acting wise. The son takes obvious physical abuse from his father but keeps trying his best to get respect from him.
The football scenes for the most part are really good, with an exaggeration or two along the way. For example, one player is tackled out of bounds, runs into a reporter on the sidelines, and the reporter gets a broken nose. But there are other scenes that make you get out of your seat and jump up and down, like when Permain drives down the field against a team that they are down by 4. Winchell drives them down the field, but on the final play, he over throws his receiver. The camera work is unique in this movie. It moves quickly, which gives you a sense that there’s not a lot of time left on the clock. One of the things I love most about this movie is how it flips around what we find to be the normal for how a sport movie should go.
The movie starts in the beginning of August and goes until the State Championship game. Through the way, the star player gets hurt and the season is considered dead. But the team gathers itself, pulls ahead, and makes it to the state finals to face the powerhouse Dallas Carter, which brings us to the climax of the movie. The Director did a great job with this game. Dallas Carter starts out kicking Permains butt up and down the field. But, as they have done all season, they pull ahead and come close at halftime. This game shows us the determination of Lucas Blacks character, Winchell. He gets pounded play after play, cheap shot after cheap shot. But every play, he gets back up and continues on. The whole team gets beaten to the edge, and goes into half time with little hope. At halftime, Billy Bob Thorton is at his best. Every sports movie has its motivational halftime speech were the underdogs realize that they have a chance and get the strength they need to win. This is a well-written speech, up there with Al Picinos half time speech in “Any Given Sunday”. The end of the game comes down to Winchell having to win the game for his team on the final play when there down by 4. At this point you flashback to, well, every sports movie were you know there going to drive down the field, score the winning touchdown, and David wins and Goliath falls. But as you know by now, the panthers loose and Winchell is left there in defeat. It’s the classic scene of the star player on his knees covered in sweat, blood, and tears totally spent and can’t even move. It brings a good closing to the movie. This is were I start to choke up. Some may be disappointed with the ending, but the movie does not end with everything going bad for the Panthers. In a show of acceptance, Tim Mcgraw goes up to his son, who believes he has failed him, hugs him, and slips his state championship ring onto his son’s finger. It’s a great emotional scene with Tim Mcgraw showing his acting side, which isn’t too bad actually.
The storyline of Friday Night Lights is well written and the acting bring you into the movie. But what makes the movie what it is, is the soundtrack which is done brilliantly by “Explosions in the Sky”, an instrumental only band that adds to emotions of the film greatly. I don’t know how it does it, but the music actually gets you to see how hard the players work for this and too come up not even a yard short, you can’t help but get a lump in your throat.
Friday Night Lights is directed by Peter Berg, who has done some acting in movies and t.v. shows. He’s directed movies such as “The Rundown” and directed the pilot for the “Friday Night Lights” t.v. series. I’ve seen “The Rundown”, and I’ve noticed that in a Peter Burg film, you can expect a lot of action. He has also directed the next Will Smith movie, which is in post-production.
After seeing this movie, I went onto imbd.com (internet movie database), and I found a review about the movie. It was a similar review to mine, saying how the actors were good and that the football scenes were some of the best in a sport movie. That review focuses on the acting of Derek Luke, who plays Booby Miles, the star running back. I agree with that review, and who ever wrote it, thinks a lot like me.
Friday Night Lights is based on the true story of the 1988 Permain Panthers. The acting is good and the football scenes are better. Even though the movie only had one major actor in Billy Bob Thorton, the supporting cast is good enough to get by with.
